Tigers 5, Indians 4: Matthew Boyd, Jeimer Candelario power Tigers to victory

The Detroit Tigers helped to put the Cleveland Indians’ division championship celebration on hold as they held on to trump the Tribe by 5-4 score on Friday night, snapping a stretch of ten straight losses while playing at Progressive Field.

The Tigers jumped on Indians’ starter Josh Tomlin early with a lead off home run from Jeimer Candelario, followed by a walk, and a sharp single from Nick Castellanos. However, no more damage would come to pass. The Tigers’ offense would strike again in the fourth inning on an RBI double from Jones.

Tigers’ starter Matthew Boyd would face little trouble until the sixth inning, when back to back home runs from Encarnacion and Donaldson would tie the game and ultimately cause his exit. This lead would be short-lived, as the Tigers would re-take the lead in the seventh behind doubles from Dawel Lugo, Candelario, and Victor Martinez. They would further expand the lead as Jones scored from second on a dropped third strike in the eighth inning.

Shane Greene would have a turbulent inning, surrendering two runs on three hits before finally slamming the door to secure a Tigers victory.

Yeaaaaaaah, Boy(d)

Coming off of a strong start against the St. Louis Cardinals in his last outing, Boyd picked up where he left off. In the bottom of the first inning, miscommunication between Christin Stewart and JaCoby Jones led to a leadoff triple for Lindor. Boyd would recover by striking out Michael Brantley, Edwin Encarnacion, and Josh Donaldson. Through 5 ¹⁄₃ innings of work, Boyd surrendered two runs on three hits while striking out seven, stringing together a quality outing for the third straight start.

Raging Turnbull

Following strong showings across the minor leagues this season, Spencer Turnbull made his major league debut tonight, striking out Yan Gomes on a 96 mile-per-hour fastball with movement on his way to a perfect inning. The 25-year-old Turnbull is among this year’s September call-ups and could make a case to be a piece out of the bullpen going forward.

Heart and hustle

If you missed it or just couldn’t get enough of that eighth inning run created by JaCoby Jones, here you go:

On deck

The Tigers continue their final tangle with the Indians on Saturday afternoon. Michael Fulmer will take the mound for the Tigers, facing off against Mike Clevinger as the Indians look to secure their third consecutive American League central division title. First pitch is slated for 3:10 pm. You can tune in on Fox Sports Detroit or listen in on your local affiliate of the Detroit Tigers radio network.